Whatever You're Running From
by Autumn's Thief
Summary: Betty/Kate post Season 2. Kate nearly loses everything she didn't realize she had.
1. Chapter 1

It had been a while since Betty had been acquitted. And then it became so loudly quiet.

Kate couldn't explain the events of the past few months; it seemed to her as if one of her greatest nightmares had grown so large and threatening that it actually jumped out of her mind and became real. She couldn't remember a time when she had felt so indescribably scared, hopeless, and lost. Even when she thought back to her retched life as Marion Rowley, she hadn't felt so forlorn. Back in the trailer, she at least _knew_ what she could expect from her violent father. This time, however, she looked into the future and saw nothing but silent blackness.

Betty had kept her promise to keep Kate safe and had gone down to the station in the morning and confessed to fighting with Vernon Rowley right before his accidental death. She made sure to underline the fact that Kate wasn't there; she swore to it. She had given her word, her promise to Kate and that meant more to Betty than any verse in any Bible and she was hell bent on keeping it. Plus, she loved Kate more than anything. 'Some things just have to play out', she thought.

The detective was so pleased with finally getting a neat confession that he couldn't hide a growing smile in the corner of his mouth. This wasn't exactly what he was hoping for, he had a real urge to throw both Kate and Betty into prison for a long time for cold murder, but this was a step forward nonetheless. The detective looked up from Betty's face and over her head to look at the screaming Kate through the window. His smile widened as he heard her words, "Betty, don't!" He turned his gaze back to Betty.

"It doesn't matter really," he said in his low, scratchy voice, staring Betty down, "you're the vile one. I'm putting you away for an awfully long time." He paused for a moment to let it sink in and take delight in the cracking of Betty's tough façade. "And she'll forget all about you while you slowly rot." he added, nodding at the far off Kate who was still struggling with the police to let her go to Betty and Betty couldn't help but cringe.

Betty suddenly felt the room grow painfully small and found it hard to breathe. _Vile, rot, forget_ echoed in her head until she thought she might scream. A terror began to swallow up every organ in her body as she sat there in that stuffy room. The chair was hard and small, the floor cold, the walls dirty. 'What did I get myself into? What will happen to Kate? I was supposed to be around for her. What if she needs me?' The questions swirled in greater intensity and Betty felt like she might just pass out as she watched the detective glare at her with satisfaction. He actually licked his lips.

'No, I doing the right thing by Kate. I'm keeping my promise,' she began to reflect. She kept her eyes on the detective and her ears focused on Kate's voice, not her words. Betty knew that Kate would have never allowed for this, but she listened to her voice, that voice she had always loved to hear. It calmed her down, even now. 'This nut case detective is really out for us, he wants our heads. There's no other way around it this time. The only way to protect her is to throw myself at this wolf. I don't have a way with words, I'm not all that well read, I don't even like mending much, and I'm sure as grace not much of a house keeper, but this- this I can do. This is what only I can do for her. And if she forgets about me, well, so be it, as long as she's safe. Gladys will help Kate out if she needs it, and me? Well, if I can take it at Vic Mu, then prison won't be so bad. Kate would never make it out. God, Kate…'

The detective stood up and it ripped Betty out of her thoughts. "Well, what do you say we make a teary-eyed scene?" he asked slyly and motioned for Betty to get up and put her hands forward. She did so and the detective handcuffed her, making sure to make it hurt. Betty winced, but didn't want to give him the satisfaction.

"Classy bracelets." she said and at that the detective took her roughly by the arm and pushed her out of the room.

Kate, who had stopped yelling, but was still standing right in front of the officers blocking her way, jumped at the sight of Betty.

"Betty! Betty, no, please!" she began to yell and threw herself towards her, but was kept back by the officers.

Betty turned her head to look at her and when she saw her delicate Kate, struggling with all her might with the officers, tears rolling down her face, she could feel her heart break. Tears filled her own eyes.

"I'm sorry." she said as if she was using all her will just to speak. She was sorry that Kate had to see this. She was sorry that she couldn't save her earlier, differently. She was sorry for all the things that Kate ever had to go through and especially those that might have been Betty's fault. This was the one thing she could do.

"Don't cry little lady," the detective said to Kate with words steeped in venom, "because it's no use. You're never going to see your little hero again!"

At this Betty began to thrash against him, wanting to hurt him, to tear him apart and also in a fear that he might actually be telling the truth. At first surprised, the detective now took Betty powerfully by both shoulders and led her to the end of the hall.

"Forgive me." Betty said looking straight into Kate's eyes and her voice conveying every emotion she ever felt. Her love and her terror. Her bravery and her uncertainty. And in that moment, Kate saw the most beautiful and powerful Betty she had ever seen. In that moment when Betty had tears rolling down her cheeks, her hands cuffed, her voice cracking and was seemingly so small and brittle, Kate thought that Betty could bring the whole building down like Samson right then and there. And when Kate was asked for forgiveness she couldn't help but think that she was always the one asking for forgiveness and seemingly never attaining it. This wasn't the way things were supposed to be. How in the world could this be God's plan? And what if this is the end? And this thought made Kate insane.

"Betty! BETTY!" she screamed as Betty and the detective vanished at the turn near the end of the hall. The scream reverberated through the entire building, through Betty's bones, through the entire world, Betty thought. It was a scream that came from something deep down within Kate that had been sleeping for a long time and was just now rudely awakened.


	2. Chapter 2

"She did WHAT?!" Gladys asked with such shock that she jumped up out of her chair and let her jaw drop and eyes fly wide open.

"She confessed. They arrested her." Kate repeated slowly and lightly, sitting at the edge of her bed, holding her head in her hands.

Gladys looked around the room astonished as if something on the walls would be able to help understand what had just happened. Slowly, as her mind began to process the information, she sat back down on her chair. The both of them sat silent for a few minutes.

"Oh, Gladys, what are we going to do now?" Kate finally said and the great weight she had carried from the station began to break her. She began to sob and shake her head.

Gladys looked at her with compassion and sighed. She got up and sat next to Kate and took her sobbing friend in her arms. Kate immediately slumped like a rag doll against Gladys and sobbed half into her own hands, half into Gladys' dress.

"She did this for me. Only for me. She wanted to keep me safe." Kate sobbed almost incoherently.

"I know, I know." Gladys said softly and stroked Kate's head and rocked her gently back and forth. Yet, after getting over the shock, Gladys' mind had already began to process, think, decipher, analyze, and plan how to find a way out of the situation. Fragments of ideas flew through her mind like shrapnel, from using a 25 pounder to blow up the prison to kidnapping Betty on the way to court. There had to be a way.

"This is all my fault. I shouldn't have come here, I shouldn't have returned and stayed. I did this. I did this!" Kate yelled through her tears.

"That's not true!" Gladys exclaimed, torn from her action packed plans and back to the heap of helplessness which had once been a person. She put her hand under her chin and raised her face to meet her gaze. The redhead looked absolutely miserable.

"This is not your fault and your being here has nothing to do with the matter. Betty would have found a way to save you whatever the situation and you know that. Betty did what she did, but now you have a job to do and that is to stay strong. There is still going to be a trial and she will need everyone's support, especially yours. Do you understand me?"

Kate looked at Gladys with a look as if she had just lost every battle she could have ever fought. She was tired. She was tired of constantly being saved and never noticing until somebody blatantly pointed it out. She was tired of not knowing why she should ever be saved in the first place. Her father had taught her one meaning of salvation which always seemed to be found on the end of a belt. Betty had showed that salvation could be found elsewhere; in a loving embrace, in the touch of a hand. 'Which salvation is true to God or are both illusions that ultimately lead to damnation? And why would salvation await me anyway? Do I not deserve this in the end?' she thought. But there was something in Gladys' eyes that told her that she couldn't, mustn't give up. She wondered if she would ever be that strong.

"The detective said I would never see her again. He was so sinister." Kate murmured.

Gladys hung her head a little. "That detective…Oh Betts, I posted bail…There was a different way…." Gladys' voice trailed off and she shook her head lightly. Kate looked at her inquisitively, but she didn't have the strength for anything anymore and laid her head back down on Gladys' lap. Gladys continued to stroke Kate's hair while looking off into some space ahead of her and the redhead could almost hear the gears turning in the brunette's head. She was thankful that Gladys was there, she was thankful for such a loyal friend. And again the thoughts of unworthiness returned. 'I don't deserve such friends. I have never done anything to deserve them. Now I am being punished.' Even lying there and being comforted in her good friend's arms, she never felt so alone as she did without Betty. The thought she might not ever speak to, work with, drink, dance, and laugh with the blond again was something she couldn't handle. She began to feel the unbearable lack of Betty which made her realize how much of her life and her person the blond actually filled. And after a while of dwelling on that feeling, she thought to herself that perhaps it wasn't God who had left her, but she who had done the leaving.


	3. Chapter 3

Some time went by with Betty in custody and awaiting trial. Kate walked around in such a mindless daze that she found herself having to convince herself that she was still walking and breathing and everything around her was real. She convinced Mrs. Corbett to let her continue to work on the line; it was the only thing that kept her from obsessively thinking about Betty in jail and let her function through the days. Mrs. Corbett would nonetheless watch her carefully from a distance, partly because she was afraid Kate might make a mistake and hurt someone or herself and partly because she felt somewhat to blame for the situation. She watched Kate slowly begin to give way under the burden and realized how deep the friendship between the two girls must have been. 'Why didn't I just throw that letter out when I had the chance?' she kept asking herself and then mentally hitting herself across the face because she never had a good answer. She watched Kate begin to slowly crumple under the burden she was carrying. She became paler and sadder with every day. She ate little or next to nothing in the canteen; she would just sit at a table and poke at her food pointlessly. 'I'll still do right by the both of you. This isn't fair.' Lorna decided in her mind.

Gladys, on the other hand, was a real whirlwind. If Kate didn't know better, she would have thought Gladys was planning her engagement. She was continually talking to people over the phone which would sometimes send Mr. Atkins nearly through the roof with anger. She was also talking to Marco and Vera more than usual and it seemed that whatever Gladys did, it was all part of a great conspiracy. But Kate knew next to nothing about it; they didn't even spend that much time together, but Kate didn't really mind, she had nothing to say about anything.

It was primarily thanks to Marco and Vera that Kate wasn't given too much of a hard time at the factory. Vera kept things in line both amongst the girls and up in the office and Marco kept the men in check. To those who would listen, they would explain that it was probably an accident since their Betty was no murderer, that the man had it coming to him, that Kate had been blatantly abused and so on. To the others, they would just give a low warning to stop stirring up trouble unless they wanted to find themselves neck deep in some. Somewhat surprisingly, Betty's not so secret secret didn't play much of a role this time since the factory had already been gossiping about it ages ago and it became tiresome. Ironically, Kate's lack of reaction to the whole matter was what made it pretty much die down along the line and in the canteen as quickly as it sparked up. The more sympathetic ones began to notice how something was not right with the redhead and tried to give her as much comfort as they could or knew how.

Kate didn't even seem to mind that Ivan was gone nor did she really even notice or feel his absence. They sent him off to some specialist hospital to treat his asthma and Kate thought that it was for the best. Ivan could recover and forget about her. She wasn't truthful with him, that was a fact, but she didn't really feel like she could be, not like with Betty. But it didn't matter now. Nothing really mattered anymore. She might have wanted to explain or at least try to explain if she had known that she wouldn't see him again. _Wouldn't see again_. Oh, Betty….

One day after shift, Gladys had, by nearly nothing short of a miracle, convinced Kate to go with her for drinks and music to the Jewel Box. Though her lack of contact with the redhead lately was quite tangible, she was in truth keeping a hawk's eye on her constantly. She knew how Kate had been spending her evenings; each one was the same- she'd take the streetcar home, practically lock herself in her room and listen to Billie Holiday until it seemed that Billie finally went hoarse on the record, lying in bed and staring at a bottle of lime cordial while drinking whiskey the way Betty did. She was desperate to break that cycle before she would come to work one day only to hear from the factory girls that Kate drunk herself to death or ran away or God only knows what else.

Kate simply nodded with about a much life as a dull pencil and followed Gladys since it was in the general direction of somewhere which was pretty much where Kate was headed anyway. It all just didn't matter. Gladys went on and on about this thing and the other to which Kate would every once in a while give nod or barely audible "mhm" in a feeble attempt to pretend she was present. The words simply became additional sounds to those of the street and passersby and her head was just filled with noise and troubles floating around in her mind, each too fleeting or too troublesome to be caught and thought over. Kate was pulled out of her stupor when Gladys gently touched her shoulder and told her that they had arrived.

Inside, the familiarity of the place both calmed Kate down and made her insides twist in a helpless agony. The brunette found a booth and told Kate to sit while she went and got some drinks that she could see from the look of things they desperately needed. The unmistakable hum of the Jewel Box brought some of Kate out of her shell and dismalness with memories of happier times; of laughs, friends, and new beginnings. It brought enough of a warmth to her center that she raised her eyes and scanned the room and began to take an interest in what surrounded her. By this time, Gladys returned with some drinks, remembering not to make the mistake of getting her a lime cordial which would probably only make her burst into tears or make her as delightful as a grave.

"This place somehow always soothes the soul, doesn't it?" Gladys mentioned, sliding into the booth next to Kate. The redhead smiled lightly in return. Compelled by her changing mood, Gladys decided to continue.

"Do you remember the first time we were here?" Gladys began in a cheerful tone, "You were so in awe of my silk stockings!" she threw her head back slightly and laughed.

"Yes…." Kate answered firstly with a somewhat shy smile. But then she remembered the hair comb Betty and bought her and her smile faded. Gladys noticed and reasoned that it probably had something to with Betty and mentally told herself she was a klutz in these kind of things, but was trying nonetheless.

A silence fell between them and they both let themselves float in the hum of the joint and superficial warmth their drinks created in their chest. After a while, Gladys looked at Kate, reached over and gently squeezed her hand which was lying next to her glass.

"It's going to be fine, you know. It will all work out in the end." Gladys said.

Kate turned to look at her and saw a seriousness and earnestness in her eyes almost as if to tell her that if she didn't believe this then they would all be doomed. She knew that the brunette never threw this kind of conviction around on the breeze just to raise someone's spirits. Where this conviction came from, she didn't know, but she found herself somewhat captivated by it all the same. Yet, there was still a numb gnawing in her stomach.

"Do you really think so?" she asked, squinting her eyes and furrowing her brows, half asking a question and half begging for a promise.

"Certainly. Just be patient and, please, don't give up."

Kate simply nodded and her head began to hang a little again.

"Remember it's Betty we're talking about here. She's gotten in scuffles with Nazis, pastors, factory girls, strange men… If anyone can get out of this situation with their head held high and a grin, it's our Betty." Gladys chanced with a little humor in her voice trying to lighten up the mood.

Kate smiled at the thought and raised her head. 'Yes, our Betty sure is one tough and tried woman. Our Betty…' She turned to Gladys again.

"I know. I know you're right," she said rather quietly, "but sometimes, sometimes I just don't know anymore. I get so frightened…." Kate's voice broke and tears began to fill her eyes.

"Oh, there now." Gladys sighed and gently patted Kate on the back while she cried quietly into her shoulder. "You poor thing."

Kate had perfected a strange way of crying where she wouldn't make any sound or real movement, but simply left tears fall from her eyes and trickle down her face until they decided to finally stop. She hadn't the energy to shake and wail. She also didn't have enough hope to be in despair. Kate was simply just kind of there, waiting, helpless. Gladys could hardly stand it. She pulled the redhead away, held her by her shoulders and looked into her wet eyes.

"Listen to me." She told Kate rather seriously, "I hired a lawyer, a really good one. I've already met with him, talked, and he's already found some ways to use the law in Betty's favor."

At this the redhead changed her expression from stupor to curiosity. She peered at the brunette as if the latter had just revealed to her that she had discovered a cure for cancer. She didn't know what to say, the statement sinking in rather slowly and very carefully.

"Now, I can't tell you that Betty has nothing to worry about, but I can say that I have a pretty good feeling. He's a top breed lawyer and will do everything in his power to have Betty go free. It's a flagship case for him." Gladys continued, seeing the fact bringing a little spark back into Kate. "Betty is in the best of hands."

Kate continued to peer at Gladys as if she didn't fully understand what she had just heard. But whatever it was, whatever it meant, it filled her with the smallest ray of hope.


	4. Chapter 4

Betty suddenly realized that she was beginning to mumble. And not only that, it was to no one in particular. She thought about that for a few moments longer than was probably necessary.

"Guess sitting around this place can do that to a person. Don't you think?" she mumbled to herself. No one replied and she sighed heavily.

She was sitting at the edge of her cot, holding the edges as if she might fall off otherwise and staring at the floor. She couldn't remember consciously counting the hours and days, but knew she had been in that cell for 6 days already which was a whole 6 days too long. She scraped at the concrete floor with her right shoe.

The waiting wasn't easy. It was one thing wanting to have some time to yourself, looking for time alone and in silence. But this, well, this was beginning to be too much for Betty to cope with. She was convinced she had already memorized every crack in her cell, every crevice and nook and cranny and chip that ever existed in that place. She sat or stood or paced in circles or squares or figures of no geometry. She would fold her arms, hold her hands behind her back, bite at her nails, wring her hands, rub the back of her neck or hold the edges of her shirt and stare at them in wonder as she turned them around and back again. Sometimes she couldn't think at all, tired and spent and sometimes she would think over the same thing over and over until it became almost as subconscious as breathing. The greatest problem was the fact that when you're left by yourself, you have to fight the demons that lie within knowing full well that you have nowhere to run. And Betty's doubts were well aware of that fact now. So they began to creep out of the corners of her thoughts to make their presence known. It made Betty begin to pace again and she got up with another heavy sigh, resigned to this routine she already knew too well.

'You've been here, what is it now? Around a week. She's hasn't come to visit you know.'

'Yeah, well, I wouldn't want her to anyway. This is no place for her.'

'You wouldn't want her to? Really? I mean, _really_?'

'Yeah really. I didn't do this in order to just drag her into it in the end.'

'But it would be nice if she'd visit, right? You know, show she cared. Or least appreciated this.'

'Sure it'd be nice if she visited. But I understand why she doesn't. I wanted to save her from all of this and that's what I did.'

'But still. A visit wouldn't hurt. Just a small sign of acknowledgment...'

'I know she's grateful. I know she wouldn't have wanted me to do this.'

'Do you? Do you really? I mean, wouldn't it be...a little...convenient?'

'Convenient?'

'Well, yeah. Because you can look at it this way. The...well...deviant is in prison, she's engaged...it all ends happily ever after. Well, except for you of course.'

'Ivan hightailed it out of there...'

Betty could almost hear her doubt scoff at the thought and it became more and more sarcastic and cynical with every sentence.

'Well sure he did. Poor little Ivan. But he'll probably come crawling back in the end. Or Kate will drag him back herself- her precious little husband and her precious little life.'

'It's not like that, no...'

'Oh, it isn't? Didn't she basically tell you to hit the road? You're a major obstacle on her "path of light" or whatever preachers would call it. You're the damned walking hell that will scorch her little film reel life.'

'I would never hurt her. She knows that. I want her to be happy.'

'Of course she knows that. You want her to be happy and she also wants for her to be happy. Kate is your priority and Kate is Kate's priority. I don't know how you can't see that yet. Or just don't want to.'

'No...'

'Yup, I see you don't want to. Seriously, when did your little angel ever do anything for you?'

'Lots of times! She's always been there for me!'

'Really?...'

Betty's understanding and patience were losing the argument with her hurt and doubt.

'Well, no, but-'

'Oh, there's always a but when we don't want to come to terms with reality. And you, my dear, have a very bad case of pining over that songbird. Seriously, she's left you more than once, broken your heart so many times that it almost looks like she plans it out, and isn't even _grateful_. I mean, she could at least spare a little of that, don't you think?'

'I'm sure she is grateful. She's just..she's just really scared.'

'Oh you exasperate me, really. Why are you continually making excuses for her? Are you masochistic or just plum stupid? Or maybe you have some secret death wish? You want to be a martyr, is that it? Do you think that she'll love you then? Well she won't! Hell, she won't even remember you in the end! Snap out of it sweetheart, she doesn't care! She. Doesn't. Care.'

'That's not true. That's not true!'

'Well, shaking your head and getting all teary eyed isn't going to change the facts here. Deny it all you want, but just take a look around Romeo. Who's free and who's gonna swing?'

Betty shivered at the thought of the gallows.

'See what I mean?', her doubt continued relentlessly, 'you're pretty much up a creek without a paddle here.'

'It'll turn out. It has to. Sometimes things just have to play out.'

'Oh yeah, I forgot, silly me. You're Betty McRae. You build bombs, live your life and exceed the law. In a pinch, you can bring down prison walls so that no one will notice. Give it a rest finally, would you? You're here all alone hero. And ain't no one coming to rescue you.'

Ironically, Betty had perfected the same way of crying that Kate had; silent tears rolling effortlessly down her face. She was tired, no, she was completely exhausted. She had nothing against fighting, she was even in her element when fighting. But fighting was supposed to end with some kind of victory, some spoils of war. Yet, Betty had the feeling that no matter what she did and no matter how hard she fought, she constantly ended up defeated and with less than she had started with. And for the life of her she couldn't figure out what she was doing wrong. She wasn't perfect, but she was far from being a bad person. It was one of the things that kept her far from God; if good people get rewarded and bad people punished then why was she the one in prison for accidentally ridding the world of one very specific evil? And didn't she love like people should? With compassion, loyalty and sacrifice? Isn't that what's written in the Bible? Then why was she the shunned one left all alone? It was all for love, it was all for Kate.

Betty balled her hands into fists. It was all for love, a love she felt, a love that at least Kate knew of and in that love her actions could have never been different. She didn't really know where her love came from, how it survived this long, and why, far beyond her better judgment, this love would just not go away. But then again, she never was a big one for asking questions, but more for acting. She knew one thing for sure, whether she had all the answers or not, she never held on to anything for no reason. So if this was what Kate needed, something Betty wanted to do, and if this was the road she had to go down then she wasn't one to turn and run. She had made a promise, she was saving a life.

Betty sat down on the edge of her cot, tired from her mental struggle and leaned against the cool, naked wall. She rubbed the back of her neck and craved a cigarette, but she had already run out the day before. She closed her eyes and tried to imagine that she was somewhere else, somewhere she would want to be. She pictured herself in her room, lying on her bed, next to Kate, the two of them casually talking about anything ordinary and everyday. She pictured the colors, the details, the sounds, and smells and a smile slowly occupied her face and her tense muscles began to relax.

'Hey Romeo, how's about forgetting all this already?'

'Beat it already, would you?'

"Hey McRae! How's about getting up when I tell you you've got a visitor, huh?" said the guard standing in front of her cell angrily while turning the key in the lock.

Betty's eyes flew open and she was suddenly flung right back into reality.

"What? A visitor?" Betty asked a little in confusion.

"That's what I said McRae." the guard retorted.

Betty got up in a little state of shock and was walked to the visiting room. Betty entered, not knowing who it was and she had tens of ideas of who it could be and only one hope of who it was. When she walked in, she heard her doubt say 'well, it looks like you're in trouble Romeo.'


	5. Chapter 5

A young, slim man was sitting in the room and when Betty walked in, he raised his head from over his papers and briefcase and looked at her. Betty simply stared at him in a bit of a daze. He adjusted his glasses with one hand, smiled and stood up. He outstretched his hand which Betty took rather automatically and shook her hand firmly.

"Ms. McRae, I'm Trevor Hastings." he stated officially and held his hands behind his back and continued to smile. Betty nodded lightly and continued to stare at him and he understood that Betty had no idea who he was and why he was there. He gestured with one hand for Betty to sit down across from him, which she did and he then sat down himself.

"I'm sure the name Gladys Witham rings a bell." he said and folded his hands on the table between them. Betty nodded.

"Well, she hired me to represent you. In other words, I'm your lawyer Ms. McRae."

"Oh, I see." Betty acknowledged dryly.

The fact was that she was actually having a rather difficult time digesting this new development. To be truthful, she never really thought that Gladys would coming rushing to her rescue; she had already done enough. It made Betty's heart swell that she had that good of a friend, one that did not turn her back on her no matter what she did and where she ended up. Yet, at the same time, it made Betty angry. She was frustrated with the idea that others thought she needed help and with the fact that she actually did. And on top of all of that, there was probably no way that Betty would be able to repay Gladys which only made Betty feel even more helpless. She wasn't used to being in these kind of situations and it made her feel weak, trapped and cornered, susceptible, and soft. She despised being in someone else's debt, especially when the debt was so indescribably large and she didn't know whether to be thankful to Gladys at the moment or be mad at her. Her jaw tightened while she turned the situation over in her mind.

"Well," the lawyer began to say rather matter-of-factly after some time and getting straight to the point, "there are enough grounds to take this to trial Ms. McRae. Whether there is enough evidence with which to convict you is another matter entirely."

The lawyer seemed rather pleased with himself as he seemed to understand a lot more than was actually said and twice as much as Betty could gather from his remark. She nodded slightly, but her stare and lack of any other reaction told the young lawyer that he would have to offer a little more explaining.

"It's all rather circumstantial, you see." he explained and looked at Betty intently hoping she would understand while Betty was actually wondering how old he really was since he did look quite young. The lawyer sighed.

"The evidence may look rather daunting, but it has to hold up in a court of law. And a courthouse has a way of making daunting evidence look quite trivial. To tell the truth Ms. McRae," the lawyer continued and took off his glasses while keeping his eyes on Betty to underline his point, " the 'vast evidence' against you is a lot of hearsay mainly and judges usually don't take very kindly to that."

"Usually." Betty said, letting her doubt and swagger slip out at the same time. The lawyer sighed as if he was caught with his hand in the cookie jar and put his glasses back on promptly.

"Yes, usually. I'm not going to lie to you Ms. McRae," he said, leaning back in his chair, "I can't tell you that there is no chance that you could be convicted. A conviction is a possibility."

Betty tensed at the thought.

"And what then?" she asked, using all her strength to make her voice not shake or crack.

"Then? Well, if convicted, you would face the mandatory punishment for a murder conviction. You would be hanged."

Betty swallowed hard.

"Oh." she said since there were no words that could really convey anything that she thought at that moment.

"But I wouldn't think of that too much. I'm just saying that it's a possibility since it's my professional duty to do so."

Betty nodded and stared at the ground. _Swing, swing, swing_...She shook her head and turned to look at the lawyer.

"So what are the other possibilities then?" she asked, peering at the young man intently, willing herself to fight a little more, "You said you're a professional Mr. Hastings, so how are you going to professionally get me out of this mess?"

Hastings brightened a little at the question and sat up in his chair and Betty realized that he was the fighting type and challenges were his cup of coffee. She liked him for that and felt some hope in it.

"Well," he started, rifling through his papers, "like I said before, this is all based on a lot of hearsay. It's difficult to convict someone of murder on only circumstantial evidence. Let's see...well, there is the letter." he stated and looked at her. Betty cringed. He nodded.

"The letter certainly gives you motive and that's never a good thing. But it's a weak one. The way the letter was written and how it was delivered could signal a disturbed individual which automatically puts everything into doubt. If the things described in the letter are not true, then there's no motive, and basically no case."

Betty widened her eyes to the news that maybe not all is lost and felt her heartbeat speed up. Hastings leaned in over the table.

"We need our own evidence, not just deflecting the prosecution's. Do you have any? Anything that would place you in a better light? Or any witnesses perhaps?" he asked eagerly.

Betty knotted her brows and began to run around hysterically in her head, trying to think of anything that might help her.

"Well, I don't really know. Well, maybe Kate's brothers...they probably know about him being violent, but I don't know if they'll testify."

Hastings nodded and quickly took notes.

"Most of the floor girls could probably vouch for my character. I mean, I practically work with only women and they could maybe say that I didn't...I didn't make...passes at them or something. ...And, well, maybe Kate...I can't think of anything else right now."

Hastings kept nodding and noting down, visibly enthralled with the situation and delighted that Betty had given him something he might build his own case on.

"Good." he said, putting down his pen and starting to put his papers in order and back into his briefcase. "I'll keep in touch with you Ms. McRae, especially if something new develops or if I have any questions. And if you remember anything that might help, then please let me know. Ms. Witham is also in touch with me if you want to pass anything on through her."

Betty simply nodded and stood up when he did and they shook hands again, the both of them visibly more satisfied with the day than at the beginning. She felt a confidence in him; he had a good, strong handshake.

"Chin up, Ms. McRae, it's still not the end of the war." he said and promptly left.

Betty was led back to her cell and it was one of the few times that she was glad to have some time to herself again. She replayed the conversation in her head over and over to see if she hadn't skipped anything or misunderstood. The lawyer's enthusiasm was beginning to rub off on her and she felt a newfound hope in her case. Maybe this actually would all be over soon and she could go home, home being the boarding house and Vic Mu. It brought a smile to her face and a warmth in her chest as she lay down on her cot and put one hand behind her head.

'Life ain't all roses, doll. That's something you should know.'

Betty squeezed her closed eyes tighter.

'There's no need to get mad at me for it! It's not my fault. I'm just saying that it may sound all well and good, but there still is that chance...'

'Go away.' Betty turned onto her side and curled up into a fetal position. She would have run, but she was locked inside herself locked inside a cell.

'I don't like this as much as you do, believe me, but there are no two ways around it. You read Shakespeare hero, you know how Romeo ends up though he thought he was real clever and it'll all be all right. You gave her your heart and she put a rope around your neck.'

Betty held her sides tightly and hid her face in her pillow.

_Swing, swing, swing._


	6. Chapter 6

Betty peered out into the distance. She saw nothing; the blackness of the night was sleepily caressed with wisps of mist. It was cold. It was quiet. It was empty.

"Betty?" came a very quiet voice from out of the blackness. Betty strained her ears and eyes towards the voice.

"Betty?" the voice repeated, this time stronger. Betty still saw nothing, but a thought of whose voice it belonged to was beginning to take shape in her head. She strained her eyes and ears even more.

An outline began to form in front of her. She noticed a lining of blazing copper begin to appear.

"Betty?" the voice asked again, even stronger.

Betty already knew whose voice it was, but she was having a hard time rationalizing it in her mind.

"Kate?" she asked out towards the copper outline with hesitation and reserve. "Kate, is that you?"

At the moment, Kate suddenly materialized before her in a flash that caused Betty to close her eyes for a moment against the brightness. When she opened her eyes again, Kate stood shining below her against the deep darkness like a divine figure and Betty was completely awestruck and dumbfounded. She stared into the helpless and questioning eyes that blazed in front of her and felt herself completely engulfed in them, drowning.

"Betty?" Kate asked, her voice now stricken with fear.

Then the darkness shifted and Kate was grasped from behind by it and utter fear gripped her face. Betty could hear a slight hiss and the face of Vernon Rowley appeared next to Kate's head. He held her in an iron grip.

"Kate!" Betty cried out and leapt out to help the poor, trapped girl. And then she noticed that she couldn't move. Betty looked down at herself and realized that she had her hands tied behind her back and a rope around her neck. She was standing on wooden scaffolding. Betty was petrified with the realization of where she was and the fact that not only could she not do anything for Kate, but that nothing could be done for her either.

"Betty! Betty!" Kate began to scream and the venomous smile that belonged to the dead pastor grew wider.

"Kate! No!" Betty screamed in return and struggled with all her might against her restraints, but the ropes wouldn't budge at all and she began to grow frantic and an uncontrollable rage spurred by utter helplessness set fire to her body. "Get away from her, you filth! Don't touch her! Don't touch her you bastard! I hate you!" Betty raged.

"Do you think that I don't see the sin inside you?" the pastor growled.

"You are sin! You're pure evil, you sick pile of shit!" Betty howled at him, writhing against the ropes like a rabid animal.

"Betty, why? Betty, why?! Help me! Betty, help me!" Kate screamed out.

"KATE!" Betty screamed up into the darkness with the power of every emotion that she had ever felt and the scream seemed to resonant to the ends of the earth and heavens and then back again. Vernon Rowley pointed his finger at Betty and raised it.

"God's eyes are always on you." he hissed and with that he flicked his finger down.

"BETTY!" Kate screamed and Betty felt the bottom drop out from under her and heard a loud snap.

Betty shot up from her nightmare, drenched and breathing heavily.

"Kate…I'm so sorry…" she whispered nearly inaudibly and put her head in her hands and began to sob.


	7. Chapter 7

Betty awoke the next day to find the angry guard at her door again, snarling that she had visitors again and that he really didn't understand why. Betty had to admit that she didn't really know why either. She was expecting the zealous, young lawyer; no one else came to mind. When the guard opened the door to the visiting room, Betty was completely unprepared for who was there.

Gladys immediately stood up when she caught sight of Betty and gave her a smile that could grace any silver screen, but that hid some kind of reservation in it as well.

"Hello, Betts. Oh, it's so good to see you." Gladys said, wringing the purse she was clutching in her hands slightly. Betty smiled lightly.

"Hello, princess."

She only then glanced over to see that Kate was sitting next to her, unable to stand, move, smile or do much of anything other than stare at Betty with such an intensity that it made Betty swoon and uncomfortable at the same time.

"Betty." she simply stated, as if she there was no other word that she could say.

"Kate." Betty replied similarly. She was so afraid that her trembling knees might buckle and let her fall that she quickly moved to the chair on her side of the table and sat down. Once both Betty and Kate had noticed that they hadn't yet broken their gaze, they suddenly broke it at the same time and peered at the table in front of them and for the first few moments no one said a word.

"Oh, Betty, how are you doing?" Gladys finally asked a little tentatively, breaking the silence.

"I'm alright I guess." Betty replied shortly, shrugging her shoulders.

"It's good to see you."

"Yeah?"

Gladys was a little perplexed with that answer and looked at her quizzically. She noticed that Betty continued to look with perilous intent at the table or shoot short glances in Kate's direction from underneath her brows. And then she noticed Kate was doing a similar thing.

"Well, of course." Gladys answered, knotting her brows a little and trying to ignore an inclination to feel offended. "I'm- we're worried about you. There's not a day that goes by that we don't miss you or think of you."

Betty only nodded without raising her head. The truth of the matter was she felt unbelievably uncomfortable and self-conscious. And what was worse, she felt doubt. She believed Gladys, she believed that the brunette really did miss her and worry; she had no reason not to. But it was Kate that troubled Betty most. Betty couldn't shake the feeling that not only would she have not come if not for Gladys, but also that she probably needed to be talked into it somehow. The thought hurt. She could understand that Kate was scared and that the jail probably stirred up memories and thoughts within her that she would rather bury. But it wasn't her who was trapped inside, it was Betty. It was Betty who was frightened and the only consolation she had was the hope of acquittal and the notion that she was right in what she was doing. The problem was that both of these things were unimaginably fragile and intangible within her gray reality of iron bars and four concrete walls. She needed to be told, to be convinced by the one whom she had put everything on the line for that everything would be fine, yet all she seemed to mysteriously receive was another shovelful of guilt that she was not the one doing the convincing.

"How did your meeting with Mr. Hastings go?" Gladys asked, finally breaking the silence she was afraid that Kate and Betty would eventually drown in.

"It was fine." Betty answered, awakening from her thoughts. "Really not much to say though. I just pretty much sat there and listened. Really young guy."

"Oh, Betty, don't let his young face fool you, he really is the best to be found." Gladys explained, shaking her head slightly as Betty slowly looked up at her. "He has already made quite an opinion for himself amongst daddy's circle of society." she added with a tone of sarcastic haughtiness.

"Well, I'll take your word for it then."

"He's absolutely perfect. I fully trust in all his abilities."

"As a lawyer or..." Betty asked, lifting one eyebrow and letting her characteristic smirk stray across her face lightly. Gladys couldn't help but smile back.

"Why, whatever do you mean?" she asked, feigning shock and raising her hand up to her cheek for a moment. "Seriously, Betty, you couldn't be in better hands."

"Good to hear it then."

"Did he tell you how your case is standing? Did he inform you of all your options and everything?" Gladys asked eagerly, getting a little too excited for her own good.

"Yeah, he explained how things are looking. If things go well, I might even be acquitted," she said, a little glimmer of hope shining in her eye, "and if things happen to go worse, then, well..." and with that the glimmer was gone with a shrug of her tired shoulders and her head hung down again.

"It will be fine, Betty. I'm absolutely sure of it. You'll see, it'll all work out in the end." Gladys implored and stretched her hands out across the table as far as her reach would let her. Betty nodded at the gesture.

"It just has to be." Kate added suddenly.

Both of the girls looked at Kate in astonishment and Kate wore an expression of surprise as if she had scared herself with her own words.

"It just has to be all right in the end." Kate repeated in a whisper, turning her gaze from the floor to Betty with dejection, fear, and defiance all simultaneously swimming around in her eyes.

Her head tried to push itself back into her neck and perhaps try to hide under the table, but her eyes were locked with Betty's and it left her paralyzed. There was so much she wanted to say and do that, in the end, she didn't do or say anything at all. She wanted to move, to speak, to do, to show that she was there. She knew that Betty needed her, was waiting for her and she wanted more than anything at that moment to fill herself with resolve and conviction and let Betty support herself on it. But she didn't know which direction to go in, which words would convey exactly what she meant, what action would let Betty rest and not force her to run. Finally, mustering all of the will she had which wasn't tangled in her terrified confusion she smiled at Betty.

Betty watched Kate's smile closely. It wasn't a brash one; she had seen bigger ones before, but this one was genuine and beautifully fragile. It took all of Betty's resolve to keep from flinging herself at it and hanging onto it for dear life. So instead, she simply smiled back at her. Their eyes cleared from the tempests of all their emotions and, for a moment, there was nothing that kept them apart. 'Somewhere deep down, you know' Kate's eyes seemed to say, 'somewhere deep down, I do' Betty's eyes replied.

The guard roughly motioned that their time was up and all three of the girls stood up at the same time. They said their goodbyes; Gladys' more heartfelt, Kate's more distressed and Betty watched the both of them leave with a heavy heart before being escorted back to her cell.

Her cell door closed with its characteristic metal clang and Betty plopped herself onto her cot, laid down, and stared at the ceiling, resting her hands on her stomach. Nothing had really changed her present situation, nobody had given her a guarantee of safety. Yet nevertheless, she felt a faint feeling of calm cover her like a thin though passing sheet and she breathed with a slightly greater ease than before. She didn't know where it came from, but she didn't have the strength to analyze it this time and she just let it be. She let herself believe that it might actually all turn out well, that maybe she didn't have to suffer through this one this time, perhaps she would finally earn her right to live her life. And as she stared up at the bare ceiling, her heavy eyelids gradually closing and her breathing slowing, she thought to herself 'yes, somewhere deep down, I know'.


	8. Chapter 8

The hearing was basically a gigantic smear of sounds, colors, and emotions that Kate could hardly remember. She would twist and turn in fear and feel sick and would nearly break Gladys' hand by squeezing it whenever something was said that might have been bad for Betty's case.

Betty kept her gaze glued on whatever was in front of her as much as possible, fearing that seeing anyone she knew might crack her concrete demeanor and make her liable to fall apart and spill onto the floor. She sat through her own hearing almost as if she wasn't even there, as if all of this was going on without her and outside of her. There would be questions and more questions and someone standing up every now and again asking, stating, restating, clarifying, and so on. Gladys hired the best lawyer she could find and Betty was grateful, but angry with the fact that she would never be able to pay her back. The whole legal circus made her fidget and grow restless; she had already convinced herself by this time that there was no other way around it except for going to prison so maybe they could just get on with it already?

Betty fidgeted ever so slightly at the relentless ping-pong match Hastings, the judge and the prosecutor were having at her expense. She simply couldn't listen to them debating the letter that Vernon Rowley had written, the confession she had made, and to the witnesses that came and went to say this or that because she was simply afraid that if she did listen and let it all sink in then she just might lose it. So she continued to pretend she wasn't even there like it seemed the lawyers were doing and tried to fill her head instead with Kate's singing. It might have made her sad, but it also made her calm.

"We've got them on the run now Ms. McRae." Hastings said quietly, leaning over a little to whisper the news in her ear. Betty jumped a little, torn from the song in her head. She turned to look at her lawyer with a confused look on her face. She noticed then, looking over his shoulder, that Mrs. Corbett was giving testimony. The realization paralyzed her and her whole body stiffened momentarily.

"To be honest," Mrs. Corbett was explaining to the judge, "Ms. McRae is one of the finest and hardest workers I've had and no one has ever complained about her behavior. Especially not Ms. Andr- Ms. Rowley."

"Perhaps that was because she was simply frightened?"

"That could be. But, who wouldn't be frightened? She had run from a sadistic father to a new place with new people doing a dangerous job. I saw the scars on that poor girl's back. If she had the courage to run from the man that put them there, then I'm confident she would be more than able to run from Ms. McRae's supposed advances. But she didn't; there were no advances on the part of Ms. McRae to speak of."

"You were not with her all the time."

"No, but I work in a factory where nearly everyone knows everything about everyone else almost right after something happens. I know when my workers are sick, sad, in fights, missing, in love, in trouble, and so on. I'm proud to say that Ms. McRae was never the source of any problems."

Betty couldn't listen to more. She couldn't decide whether to beam with pride that Mrs. Corbett thought so highly of her or to stand up angrily and yell at her to stop painting her as some kind of angel. But above all else, Betty felt uneasy that she would have to owe Mrs. Corbett and she didn't like owing anyone anything, especially if she knew she wasn't able to ever repay her debt.

There were witnesses before Mrs. Corbett and after and Betty forced herself to become deaf to the rest of the testimonies. She was mostly scared to death that she just might hear something that might hurt her case and send her straight to the gallows. So she kept replaying Kate's songs in her head like a Billie Holiday record and filled the courtroom she saw with images of the farm from her childhood. Kate's voice filled her mind and her eyes danced over old oak trees, swaying grass, and sunsets seen perched atop a large pile of hay. It made her calmer and drove away the returning creak of a taut rope.

If others hadn't know better, they would have thought that Gladys reveled in the hearing. She paid attention to every word spoken, her eyes quickly sweeping in between speakers. It almost seemed as if she was watching a rehearsal of a play she had herself written and she was quite pleased with the performance. Once in a while, she reached to squeeze Kate's hand, partly as a gesture of support and partly as a side effect of her own excitement. Gladys wished she could catch Betty's attention and show her that the hearing was going quite similarly to what she had envisioned in her head and it was just like she told Betty it would be- it would work out in the end. Yet, as difficult as it was for the brunette, she had to stay seated and keep her observations to herself.

Kate didn't listen much to the trial, she was much too terrified. Betty hadn't looked at her or tried in any way to communicate with her, but Kate understood why she wouldn't want to and tried not to feel sad about it. She twisted and turned her hands for so long and in so many directions, that they had turned red and every once in a while, Gladys would reach over and gently squeeze her hands as if she wanted to keep them from becoming permanently tangled. Sometimes, Kate would turn her head to see if perhaps someone uninvited had appeared to send Betty straight to hell. She was particularly afraid of seeing her brothers. But no one ever came to defend her father's name.

Seeing Betty sitting there, vulnerable to any and every anger of the world made Kate feel more dejected than she ever had been. She knew that she should have been sitting in that chair, behind that table, in front of that judge. But fate took the turn that it did all because Betty had once made a promise to keep her safe. And she loved her. The thought made Kate's stomach twist into a knot. Wasn't love supposed to be happy and carefree? Wasn't it supposed to bring a smile to someone's face and laughter? There was none of that here. But Betty was showing her that love also involved responsibility; it wasn't all fun and games. There were times it was rough and difficult; ultimately sometimes a sacrifice had to be made in its name. Kate knew little of these things. She had spent much of her life either under the crushing foot of her father or running from him. She had only started to learn that she had her own mind, that she could formulate her own opinions and make her own decisions. Yet, when push came to shove, Kate abandoned her new sense of self and did what she knew best- she ran. But while Kate was running, Betty was standing her ground, fighting for her right to simply be. Kate wondered over how, even now, Betty was teaching her a valuable lesson. 'She always was my hero' she thought to herself and she looked at the back of the blond's head with a kind of longing.

Suddenly she saw the blond's head fall somewhat and her right hand reaching her face. Mr. Hastings leaned over to her and put his hand on her shoulder. It seemed that Betty was crying. Startled, she turned to Gladys.

"What happened?" she asked with alarm.

"What?" Gladys asked in confusion.

"What just happened?" Kate repeated over the growing noise and movement in the room.

"What do you mean? Kate, the judge just acquitted Betty. There will be no trial, no criminal proceedings." Gladys explained with a growing smile on her face.

"There will be no trial?" Kate repeated slowly as if she had a difficult time understanding.

"Kate," Gladys said, putting her hand on the redhead's shoulder, "Betty is free. It's over and she can go home now."

As the realization began to dawn on Kate, tears filled her eyes and she brought her hands to cover her mouth in a certain show of disbelief. Gladys only smiled more and looked endearingly at the shocked redhead. Then she stood and looked over in Betty's direction and saw that she was already being lead out of the courtroom by the guard and the lawyer was gathering his papers, his face beaming with a sense of triumph.

Hastings had told Gladys which room Betty would be coming from and she took Kate with her in order to be the first ones to greet her as a free woman and before the rest of the crowd suffocated her. Betty appeared with a small paper bag filled with her personal affects that had been taken from her when she was put into custody. She had been looking straight under her feet while walking, but when she looked ahead for a moment, she saw the two girls waiting for her and she slowed down in hesitation. She didn't know what to say, how to act, but then again, neither did they. Betty hadn't yet stopped in front of them, when Kate suddenly sprang towards her.

"Oh Betty!" she cried and ran a couple of steps towards her with her arms open and practically flung herself at her and hugged her tightly.

Betty wasn't prepared and let out a big puff of air when the redhead nearly collided with her and displayed a slightly puzzled smile. But after a few moments, she carefully wrapped her arms around Kate and returned the hug. She couldn't have wished for a better greeting.

Kate didn't really know why she had sprang at Betty; it was an impulse that she had simply acted upon. But now, she didn't know what to do and how to handle it so she slowly drew away and Betty reluctantly let her. She took a step back.

"I'm just so happy that you're free. I'm so glad you're back." she said with an anxious smile on her face as if she was explaining herself.

"Well, it's good to be back." she returned, with a grin she thought might just split her face. She turned her gaze to Gladys who was smiling also. "You're going to give me an 'I told you so' now, aren't you?" she joked.

"Well, as it so happens, I did tell you so."

"That you did, princess." The blond acknowledged.

"Maybe now you'll know that you should listen to me more often."

"Well, I wouldn't hold your breath for that one." Betty replied grinning and Gladys moved forward and the two shared a short hug. When they separated, Betty's grin had disappeared to reveal uneasiness.

"Gladys, thank you for all you've done. I don't know how I'll ever repay-"

"Don't." Gladys interrupted her and raised her hand to underline it. "There's nothing to repay. I did it for a friend."

"But-"

"Do you really want to spend your first moments of new freedom arguing with me? It's over, let's finally put it behind us." the brunette stated with more seriousness and put her hand on the blond's shoulder.

Betty would have had it a different way, but she didn't really have a choice so she simply surrendered with a small smile. Gladys returned it and slid her arm around Betty's shoulders.

"Come on, your fan club is waiting for you." she explained with a raised eyebrow and Betty moaned lightly and unhappily seeing the crowd waiting at the end of the hall. "Let's give the public what they want."

The three of them walked over to the crowd. Betty was congratulated, pat on the shoulder and back, and given all kinds of words of wisdom and advice. She said little, afraid that someone might notice that she remembered almost nothing of the testimony they had given in her favor because of her fear that it might have been just the opposite. She smiled, nodded, shook hands, and made general statements.

"I- I really don't know what to say." Betty stammered out genuinely when she faced Mrs. Corbett. "I can't thank you enough."

"I'm just glad this is over for you." Mrs. Corbett stated matter-of-factly.

"I'll make it up to you somehow, I promise." Betty said vehemently, an urgency in her face. Mrs. Corbett only smiled and gazed at her affectionately.

"There's no need for promises here. It's me who wanted to make it up to you. I should have thrown away that wretched letter. I wanted to finally do right by you." the shift matron explained and Betty was touched by the warmth and closeness she was showing now.

"You did." Betty stated firmly, trying to not let her emotions run away with her, but still having her gratitude show.

Mrs. Corbett smiled softly and gently squeezed Betty's shoulder.

"Let's just have you keep out of any more trouble, hm?" she said lightly.

"Yes, ma'am." Betty replied, straightening herself up and looking at Mrs. Corbett directly.

"That's a good girl."

Fortunately for Betty, the crowd didn't linger unnecessarily. Almost all of them would see each other at work again anyway. Everyone filed out of the courthouse and one by one went their own ways. Gladys packed Betty and Kate into her car and insisted on driving them to the boarding house. They were cheerful as if all three of them had been set free. Gladys and Kate gabbed and giggled while Betty was more quiet, but threw in a smile every now and again.

Once they reached the boarding house, Gladys turned around to the back seat.

"I propose a really nice dinner. Steak, wine, the works to celebrate. What do you say?"

Kate's eyes lit up, but Betty's didn't change.

"Thanks Princess, but you've already done enough." The blond replied and saw the sparkle in the girls' eyes fade. "Plus, I'm actually kind of tired and I want to take a long bath to get this jail off me. Maybe later?" she offered.

Gladys realized that she hadn't taken into consideration that the whole situation didn't simply slide off Betty's shoulders and that she probably did need some time to just let it all sink in.

"Yes, of course. It's not a problem." she answered and reached over and squeezed Betty's hand.

Betty thanked her for the ride and both she and Kate got out and walked to the boarding house. They said nothing to each other, neither having any idea of what to say. They walked up the stairs and once they reached the hall and stood between their doors, they turned to each other, but found more comfort in staring at the floor than looking at each other.

"Thanks for being there. And for your testimony." Betty finally managed, breaking the silence. She fidgeted more and more, her body trying to convince her to hug or touch, things that her brain was assuring were out of line.

"It was the least I could do Betty." Kate said quietly and looked up at her, looking rather pale under the strain of too many emotions and too little thought.

Betty smiled under the redhead's gaze with that simple yet monumental acknowledgment. She then saw Kate begin to grow distressed, twisting her purse in her hands. Her lips were moving mutely, her mouth rushing to say the words she hadn't yet found in her mind. Betty interrupted the process.

"So, good night then, yeah?" Betty said quickly and looked at Kate as if she had just said the easiest and most common thing in the world.

"Um, yes, of course, good night Betty." Kate returned, a little taken aback, but too lost to stand her ground.

"If you need anything…"Kate offered when Betty began to turn towards her door and her voice just drifted off.

"Thanks. I'll be fine." Betty replied with a gentle smile, knowing full well that she had cut Kate short of something important that she had wanted to say.

But Betty was too tired, too spent, too used to hear what it was. She felt too much and nothing at all and she needed time to slip back into the comfort of knowing that there was no rope threatening her anymore. She had kept Kate safe as she promised, but now she had to pull herself back into a safe place since there was no one else to do it for her. She tried not to visualize the expression Kate most surely had and turned the key in her lock, opened the door and closed it behind her quickly before she had a chance to change her mind and most likely throw herself into Kate's arms. It sounded ridiculous, but holding Kate was always the greatest proof that she was indeed safe.

The room was so familiar to Betty and yet seemed a little strange. She dropped her paper bag onto the floor and walked slowly over to her bed and sat on its edge and gripped it. Once she began to rock lightly back and forth, she noticed that she had begun the same routine she had mastered during her time under arrest. But she was free now, she had been acquitted. Betty was safe now, it was over. The realization made her begin to shake all over as if caught in a cold breeze. She dropped herself onto her bed, buried her face in her pillow and allowed herself to cry.

Kate did not knock. She dropped her hand and could do nothing but helplessly listen, brushing away her tears before they fell to the floor.


	9. Chapter 9

Betty cried herself into a dreamless sleep. She awoke to see darkness still in place outside her window. She didn't know whether it was very late at night or already quite early in the morning. She raised herself groggily and hung her legs over the side of the bed. She reached over to her bedside table and took out a cigarette and lit it. Only after taking a long, satisfying drag did she notice that the cigarette pack was a new one and the someone must have bought it for her when she was away. 'Kate...' she thought and smiled to herself. After smoking half of her cigarette, she realized that she wasn't going to go back to sleep, but that it was early enough that she could take that long bath she had been dreaming of without interruption.

Betty sunk into the tub and relished the fact that no one was up on this Saturday morning and the house was quiet and the washroom was for her only. She closed her eyes as she leaned her head against the enamel edge of the tub. She sighed and let her muscles relax, not fully aware of how tense they had been. She imagined all the dirt, the invisible dirt, seeping out of her pores and into the water. Her skin filtered out all of things she never had wanted to experience- the loneliness, the doubt, the fear, the despair. But she kept the sacrifice and locked it deep in her heart where it was rooted. She knew that she could have saved herself, she could have shielded herself from it all; she knew that others, if they had known the whole story, would have thought she was completely crazy. But the sacrifice, as trying and hurtful as it was, was the very thing that defined her, that made her Betty. It gave her a sense of self and purpose even if only she knew of it and understood it. Her promise and resolve had been put to the ultimate test, the test of sacrifice, and although she cracked and waivered she had held fast and made it out alive. The world could throw all it had at her and she knew that whether in one piece or a million, she would make it through.

By the time the boarding house started to wake up, Betty had already made her breakfast, taken it back to her room and sat on her windowsill, leisurely smoking another cigarette and watching life go by on the street. She liked the lingering of this morning. She took the time to slowly and quietly take in the day and her new found freedom. She had the chance to think about her time in her cell now standing outside of it. There were a lot of things she missed then, like the sounds of the boarding house rising with the day. The sounds that sometimes annoyed her, the constant presence of people that she usually had to hide from were now a comfort and she saw them in a slightly different light. But most of all, she realized how truly terrified she was, locked up behind bars, waiting for someone to put a noose around her neck, knowing that there wasn't much she could do about it. The horror was greater when she admitted to herself that even if she had found herself with that noose tightening around her neck, she wouldn't have tried to save herself because that would mean endangering Kate. To her, it was better for everyone and the world that it was her dangling from the rope and not the redhead. Kate's life had become more important than her own and she had unconsciously proved it to everyone including herself. She had scared herself to death with the fact that she wasn't really afraid to die.

The realization itself wasn't much of a shock to Betty, the thought that it was unwanted by Kate was the greater burden. How do you protect someone who thinks they don't need protection, how do you live for someone who doesn't want you? How do you save someone who doesn't know they need saving? Does giving your life for someone who doesn't want it basically mean you're committing suicide? These were the answerless questions that burdened Betty. The physicality of the world around her, the tumbles, falls, fights, cuts and bruises, the four walls and iron bars were nothing frightening to her and there was a part of her that she would admit even lived for that kind of stuff. But it was in the emotional or spiritual world where Betty felt completely lost and at a total disadvantage. Fists and threats didn't work here. Words weren't always what they seemed and statements carried a second, deeper meaning. Here, sometimes fighting for something was exactly what could drive it away. In her cell, she had learned to crumple into herself; there she had realized how fully alone she was in her feelings. And although it was all over now, the bars still seemed to remain around her soul and she let it be. She would have been crushed under the strain of what she thought might have been an unnoticed sacrifice if not for the fact that it had been so important to her. It was a constant war between seeing the reality her doubts had shoved in front of her face and the fragile conviction that her own pride in her actions was enough. She sighed heavily as if she saw no other way out. She had been let out of jail and now she simply let the jail in. Betty was just too exhausted to do anything else.

Betty was relieved when neither Gladys nor Kate came to see her that day; she needed the entire day just to herself. She had a faint suspicion that Kate hovered around her door a little more than often and probably debated whether to knock on her door or not, but she never did and Betty pretended like she couldn't hear her hover. She wanted things to go back to normal, she would have to go to work soon and she didn't want to act like she was seeing civilization for the first time. But she had no idea how to do this and sometimes it just seemed to her that staying in her room and avoiding Kate forever was a fantastic idea. In the evening, she finally decided that dinner the next day would probably be the best chance to try to get things back to normal and put the whole hearing behind her. She went out into the hall and rang Gladys who was delighted with the news. Once they agreed to a time, Betty wrote a short note about it for Kate and slipped it under her door and went back to her room. A while later, while lying on her bed quietly smoking a cigarette she finally heard the knock on her door that she had been anticipating the entire day. She pretended she was asleep. Kate didn't knock again and went back to her room. Betty sighed heavily.

A couple of hours before the dinner, Betty was returning from the washroom and when she reached her door and put her hand on the knob she saw Kate coming down the hall. They both stopped and smiled at each other and Betty went back to opening her door. Kate noticed that Betty was trying to escape and decided to take a chance.

"Can I come in?" she blurted out and Betty turned her head, looking at her rather indifferently.

"That is, if that's not a problem." she added more quietly and began to feel uncomfortable under the blond's gaze.

The fact of the matter was that Betty wanted her to come in and to stay out at the same time. But she also didn't want to be unnecessarily rude. She finally decided that at the moment she had neither the time nor energy to debate the matter and surrendered.

"No, come in." Betty said with a sigh, opened the door and motioned for Kate to walk in.

Betty shut the door behind them and leaned against it. She didn't know what to do next and Kate's awkward and uncomfortable stance in the middle of her room betrayed that she didn't either. Kate felt so uneasy and naked under Betty's gaze which seemed to her to be somehow all knowing and scrutinizing that she decided to speak up before she crumbled under her silent judgment and her own ever present guilt.

"So, how have you been?" she started gingerly.

"Fine." Betty replied shortly, a small smile growing in the corner of her mouth that asked 'are you serious?'

"I stopped by a couple of times yesterday, but I thought that you might rather want the time to yourself."

"Yeah, I did."

"Did it help?"

"I guess I just needed some time to myself and to clear my head." Betty replied with a shrug of her shoulders. She sighed at the sight of the forlorn redhead. "Do you want to sit down or are you just going to stand there like a monument all day?"

Kate didn't know whether it was said with annoyance or jest, but she smiled just in case and nodded as she moved to the edge of the bed and sat down.

"Are you going to sit down?" Kate asked after seeing that Betty seemed to have no intention of moving.

"I'm just fine over here." Betty answered curtly and it hurt Kate, the distance, the distrust.

"Betty, I am so sorry!" Kate blurted out as all of her guilt and emotions, half completely indecipherable to her, came gushing out of her. Betty simply hung her head.

"I know. It's over now."

"You do? Is it?" Kate asked with scrutiny. "You were acquitted, but you seem to act like you regret it. And like you're angry with me."

"I don't regret that they released me. No one in their right mind would."

"Then maybe you regret that you took the blame on yourself." Kate suggested, her tone growing quieter.

"No, I don't." Betty replied after a moment in a tone that drove away any doubt either one of them might have had in the matter.

"Well then what is it Betty? You're free! It worked out well and we can put it behind us! Why aren't you happy?" Kate asked in exasperation, throwing her hands in the air. Betty snapped at the word "happy".

"Are you serious?!" Betty asked and turned her head to glare directly at the redhead. "Why aren't I _happy_? I'm supposed to be _happy_? Kate, for God's sake, I'm relieved that I'm not going to jail, but you have no idea what I went through in there." she explained angrily, pointing a finger at her own chest to underline that she was the one hurt. Kate hung her head and looked up again.

"Would you tell me?" she asked quietly.

Betty was a little surprised with the request since she was convinced that Kate would have never wanted to know. But her anger had been let loose and she couldn't reign it in now.

"You should have come to visit and maybe you would know." she said bitterly.

"I did."

Betty glared at her almost with offense and insult.

"It was all I could do." she added hurriedly, trying ineffectively to explain.

"I could see that." the blond replied, relentless.

"Betty, I'm sorry. I wanted to visit, I really did. But I was, I was scared. Very scared."

"Oh, were you now?" Betty retorted, steeping in her bitterness. Kate looked at her with great hurt.

"Betty! Why are you like this? Are you mocking me?"

"No, I'm not. I just don't know why we're talking about you again."

"We're not. I'm just trying to explain to you why I didn't visit you somehow."

"Well, it's pretty clear. Thanks."

Bitterness was now beginning to take Kate over too. All the words left unspoken and all the thoughts and feelings swept under the rug now came out with a vengeance, a force neither of them could control.

"Betty, I am trying the best I can!" Kate began to shout, standing up from the bed, tears forming in her eyes.

"Oh, are you? Congratulations then."

"If you're angry with me then just tell me, but you know my fears, you know me better than anyone."

"I thought I did."

The comment cut at Kate's heart, but she too concerned with defending herself at the moment to feel it.

"Believe me, I wanted to visit. I know I should have come by myself, but it's not like Gladys had to drag me there."

"Who knows?"

"What is wrong with you?" Kate asked in amazement and walked slowly up to Betty so that they found each other face to face. "What kind of friend do you take me for?"

"I don't know. Maybe the kind that doesn't come to visit their friends when they're locked up?" Betty replied sarcastically, the anger and helplessness growing in her to a point where she thought she might break. Kate on one side of her and the door on the other made her feel incarcerated again.

"Betty what don't you understand?! I was terrified!" Kate shouted, the tears falling finally from her eyes and streaming down her face.

"Well so was I!" Betty finally yelled and it shocked Kate into silence. "But_ I_ was the one in a cell, locked up alone and lost without you!"

The last part surprised both of them and they grew quiet, looking at each other with tension and more questions in their eyes than they ever thought they would be able to answer.

"I was the one who dreamed of gallows and nooses, Kate." Betty continued in a much quieter tone and with a sigh, deciding that she had probably already said more than she should have so there was no harm in saying more. "I was the one pacing back and forth in a concrete room, hoping I wouldn't lose my mind."

An overflowing compassion filled Kate's heart as it saw the images Betty was describing and she began to realize the trauma she must have gone through.

"Oh, Betty..."

"I don't regret taking the fall for you," she continued, now speaking in almost a whisper and looking down at her hands that were tangled up in each other, "I really don't. But I do regret that you didn't care."

Kate raised a hand and covered her mouth, her face trying to stifle an erupting sob.

"I just don't know why you didn't even care." Betty whispered, her voice cracking and her eyebrows knotting.

Kate shook her head with such vehemence that her red locks swept across her shoulders back and forth.

"Oh dear God, Betty, I do care. I do." Kate said, one hand grabbing Betty's and the other sliding down from her mouth enough to let the trembling words out, the tears streaming down her face.

Betty raised her head enough to timidly look at Kate from underneath her brows. Kate shook her head again and practically flung herself at Betty, throwing her arms around her neck and pulling her as close as she could. It took Betty by surprise just like it had at the courthouse, but this time it felt much more intimate. She felt Kate's tears falling on her shoulder as the redhead somehow buried her face in between her neck and shirt. She wrapped her arms around Kate and held her just as tightly as she was being held.

Betty knew that these outbursts were always genuine. They were explosions of all the things that Kate was either scared of or thought she had to restrain. Betty embraced the certainty that Kate was letting her see and cherished it more than anything else Kate had to show or say. Kate, on the other hand, knew that Betty had shown her vulnerability, shared the fears that she pretended she didn't have. She saw that Betty trusted her enough to show her weakness in front of her and she revered it. One of the things she knew all too well was what it meant to be weak, especially in front of someone who was supposed to be close to you. She knew how it felt when that weakness was taken advantage of. She would never take advantage of the weakness Betty was showing her, she would rather be whipped again and again.

"Please Betty," Kate began, taking Betty's face into her hands and looking at her with conviction, "don't ever think that I don't care about you or for you."

Betty could find no words so she just tried to smile. Her eyes scurried all over the floor, not being able to meet Kate's. Kate sniffed and wiped away a tear from her own face before bringing it back to Betty's and wiping a tear there with her thumb.

"Please." she repeated in a crumpled whisper.

Betty nodded lightly, still unable to find the words.

They stood there in a moment that seemed to hang as if time had stopped to witness their exchange. They stood close to each other, closer than they had for a long time, Kate's hands on Betty's face, Betty's hands finding their way to Kate's hips and holding her dress in her fists as if she was afraid she might run. Kate looked at Betty, searching for consolation, Betty continued to look at the floor, searching for solace. They could feel the heat radiating from their faces, their breaths mingled and caressed each other's skin. The sensations stirred different suppressed notions waiting patiently in the corners of their souls. They knew what they felt individually, but wouldn't dare to guess if the other felt the same. Their hearts beat a little faster, their grip grew a little tighter, their breaths a little more strained, their faces a little closer. Betty swallowed hard as Kate absently lightly stroked Betty's cheek with her trembling hand, looking at Betty half in fascination and half in confusion; she had no idea what she was doing exactly, but she was doing it anyway. 'Somewhere deep down, we both know' Betty thought to herself.

But their vast, unresolved fear continued to play the part of their undoing. Betty raised her left hand and caught Kate's that was resting on her cheek. She squeezed it gently and ventured a look at Kate. There was too much here to feel, to solve, and to heal; drowning in it now wouldn't help either of them. Kate wrapped her fingers around Betty's hand and returned the humble smile. She took a step back and their locked hands fell in between them. Kate sniffed again and wiped away another tear with her other hand.

"Don't we look swell?" Betty said with a small grin, trying to lighten up the atmosphere.

"I'm sure." Kate replied with a smile.

Betty sighed, relieved that the tenseness was going away and it wasn't leaving ruins in its wake.

"I'll tell you what," Betty started in a more conversational tone and lightly swinging Kate's hand which she was still holding, "how about we get cleaned up and dressed. We can't go to dinner looking like rabbits with insomnia."

Kate burst out with a small laugh at the image and nodded in agreement to which Betty smiled. Betty couldn't help but notice how much she wanted to hold Kate; Kate couldn't help but notice how much she wanted to rest her head on Betty's shoulder.

A few more moments passed before they finally found the will to let go of each other's hands and Kate moved towards the door and finally left, turning and smiling at Betty one last time before the blond closed her door. Once in their respective rooms, both of them let out a deep sigh and tried to wrap their minds around what had just happened. So much was expressed in the unspoken; so much changed in the untouched. Kate felt the joy of a healing friendship, oblivious to the extent of the damage she had caused. Betty sensed the tension of an oncoming war, unaware of the rebellious flame growing in Kate's heart. Neither was prepared.


	10. Chapter 10

Gladys was already waiting for them, leaning against the Packard when Betty and Kate left the boarding house. She walked up to greet them. Gladys dazzled as usual; a red dress with black trim that hugged her as if it had an obsession with her, the perfectly matching coat, hat, and bag. Kate was amazed, but used to the fact that most girls always seemed to shine much more than she ever would. When Betty got over how stunning Gladys looked and picked up her jaw that had dropped to the sidewalk, she suddenly felt very self-conscious and under-dressed for the occasion and stopped in her tracks.

"I'm just going to, um..., back up..." the blond stammered to Gladys, pointing back to the boarding house.

"Oh, you'll do no such thing Betty McRae." Gladys said and reached out and grabbed Betty's arm, knowing all too well that she wanted to run away.

The blond reluctantly surrendered and let herself be nearly dragged and shoved into the car by the very determined brunette.

"You are going to have a nice time tonight." Gladys commanded after Betty finally flopped into the back seat, " You're going to relax and enjoy yourself."

"Oh yeah, feeling about as relaxed as a coiled adder." the blond replied, rolling her eyes.

Gladys only smiled and motioned for Kate to get in as she went around the car to get into the driver's seat.

"It's time we returned things back to normal around here." Gladys said, starting the car and giving the girls in the back a smile into the rearview mirror.

The blond and the redhead returned the smile, the first sarcastically and the second excitedly. And after the steady hum of the car settled over them, they both began to think about the same thing. It would be nice to get things back to normal, but what was 'normal'? Do they pick up where they left off; if so, then where did they leave off? Do they start new stories; if so, where was the beginning? Do they just wait for someone to tell them where they had lost the plot; if so, then how long should they wait? And whose 'normal' was it anyway? Who would tell them that this was normal and that wasn't? And what would happen if one person's 'normal' was another's 'abnormal'? Who chose the better then; who would be the judge?

The overpowering, all-encompassing questions were the ones that plagued them most. Kate struggled to find her own understanding of 'normal'. Yet she found that searching for answers was simpler than defending those fragile answers when they were challenged. The redhead found that those answers had a tendency to fall apart straight away at the smallest sign of any strain and she didn't know how to construct her ideas differently than from sand; they kept washing away with every tide. Betty, on the other hand, had quite a set idea of 'normal' that found itself quite far away from anyone else's. She was a fighter, but she felt constantly besieged in her stone castle of conviction, endlessly having to keep watch and repair damages so that no one would breech her defenses and defeat her. It was tiring and draining when all she wished was that everyone would just leave her the hell alone.

Gladys also wondered about her 'normal'. Her 'normal' was found in a whirlwind of abnormality. It was the challenge of pushing all the limits she encountered, yet still managing to remain the same person underneath. It was the contest of taking all the attributes others considered her weaknesses or mere superficialities and molding them into skills and tools that she used with remarkable precision, decisiveness, and determination. It was the need to be the most lady-like kind of unstoppable there was, a bulldozer of a flower, a dainty firecracker. It was the thrill of doing the frightening impossible.

Gladys drove them to a really fancy place nearly on the other side of town and once they got there, Gladys was smiling, Kate was in awe, and Betty's jaw nearly dropped to the ground again and she immediately regretted she hadn't put up more of a fight earlier. Gladys ushered them in anyway and told the head waiter that she had a reservation for the name Witham. After checking, the head waiter nodded and led them to their table and took their coats. Gladys sat down with an air of ease as if she was in a place that everyone went to all the time for a cup of coffee or a couple of beers. Kate was secretly relieved that she had put on her best dress and spent some extra time on her hair, remembering to put in the hairpin she got from Betty what seemed to be ages ago. Betty, of course, felt as comfortable as beach sand in all the wrong places. She kept nervously straightening the front of her skirt with her hands and secretly congratulated herself on not wearing pants but cursed herself for getting talked into dinner, all the while hoping that maybe she would just disappear if she wished it enough.

"Are the both of you just going to stand their all evening or maybe you'll sit down?" Gladys finally suggested with a smile, eyeing her two misplaced friends. "Perhaps before Betty manages to iron a hole into the front of her skirt with her hands."

Betty shot her a look of surprise and automatically took her hands off her skirt, but didn't know where else to put them so quickly grabbed her chair, pulled it out a little, sat down and clutched the sides. Her face was burning with almost all the emotions that could set skin on fire.

"Easy Betty, this is a restaurant, not an auctioning house. Nobody's going to buy that chair out from under you." Gladys teased, leaning across the table.

Kate giggled as she sat down, but the glare she got from Betty made her cut it short.

"I guess I just wish I'd known exactly where we were going to." Betty said through her teeth. "I feel as at ease in this place as a nun in a brothel."

"And miss the opportunity to see your face turn about thirty different shades of red? Never!"

"Very funny princess." Betty retorted, her eyes narrowing.

"It is actually." she agreed and shot a look at Kate and the two, meeting their gazes, broke into quiet laughter.

"Oh, alright already. Let's get this over with." Betty finally huffed and picked up a menu and hid herself behind it.

"That's the spirit." Kate added quietly and another soft fit of laughter could be heard.

When Betty finally got over feeling immensely uncomfortable in a restaurant whose name she couldn't for the life of her pronounce or remember, the evening starting to turn out to be just as pleasant as Gladys had hoped it would. They talked, they laughed, and with each funny situation or new piece of gossip, all three found themselves relaxing and slowly, but surely leaving all of the trial behind them. Their talking and eating sometimes drew the attention of some of the other diners which Kate and Gladys effectively ignored, but, of course, annoyed Betty.

"Why does he keep staring at me?" Betty asked quietly, leaning towards Gladys with a hint of conspiracy in her tone.

"Who?"

"That man, over there." the blond answered, nudging her head a little in his direction.

"Which one?" Kate asked, trying to be subtle in her scanning of the room.

"That man. Over there. Next to that woman. Over there." Betty repeated a little impatiently.

"Seriously, you're going to have to give me a little more information than 'over there'."

"That guy who's staring. Over there. You know, that 'holier-than-thou' type."

With that both Gladys and Kate erupted into a fit of laughter since it was a pastor who had been glaring at the blond. Betty joined in the laughter after Kate told her and a few moments later, a waiter came flying over to ask whether something was the matter. This only resulted in more laughter and the waiter left with some embarrassment and a choked out order for three more coffees and a platter of pastries.

They were actually having such a good time, that they hadn't realized how late it had become and one of the waiters walked up to their table and politely informed them that they are closing and they are the last ones left. The three of them giggled, asked their pardon and went to put on their coats.

They were still talking, amused with themselves and the evening; it really was something that they needed. Gladys felt as if things were returning to where they should have been, like a motion picture whose reel was abruptly cut somewhere in the middle and had finally been glued back together and was continuing with the story. She glanced over at her two friends and was happy to see them smiling and someone from the outside would have never known what they had gone through just by looking at their faces. She was happy that she could do something for them and knew that she would always be happy to help them, whether they wanted it or not. She sometimes felt like a sort of guardian over the two; helping Kate as she stumbled and bumped into all the things of her new life and protecting Betty when her defiant nature pushed her up against a wall. And in the end, when she was the one who needed to be cared for, they were always there. She smiled at the thought of the most bizarre patchwork family the war would probably ever see.

They walked out into the crisp night air, linked arm in arm, disappearing and reappearing in the dim streetlamps of the night. They were about halfway to the car, when they heard a young, but low voice in back of them.

"Good evening ladies. Isn't a bit late for a stroll?" the voice growled lowly, sending a chill up the girls' spines.

The girls stopped and turned around. A young man, dressed in black stood there with a tall and defiant stance, holding one hand in his pocket. His cap cast a shadow over his face, half of grin finding its way into the light.

"What do you want?" Betty asked defiantly and unconsciously moved a little, putting herself between the young man and Kate.

Their good humor was gone. They didn't know who the man was or what he wanted, but they all knew that he meant trouble. For a brief moment, Gladys couldn't help but curse the man, ruining the evening that they all deserved. And she wondered over how everything did seem to fall into the places it kept repeatedly falling; Betty was defiant and protective of Kate, Kate stood unsure and scared but close to Betty, and she herself was observant, ready to dive in exactly when need be.

"Just a little justice." the man scoffed somewhat nervously and turned his head towards Kate. "You're gonna burn sister."

Kate let out a gasp and absently reached over to Gladys who grabbed her hand.

"Run!" Betty yelled and somehow all three had been thinking the same thing and they all started running back to the car at the same time.

The young man ran after them. Gladys pulled out in front and Betty yelled her name out. They knew that Gladys had to reach the car and get them out of there, they had to make sure that Kate was safe. The car came closer into sight and the brunette had already managed to somehow fish the keys from her purse. When Betty saw Gladys nearing the car, she noticed in the corner of her eye that Kate was falling behind and the man was catching up. And then she made a split second decision.

Betty suddenly turned on her heel, leaned forward with her head down and barreled into the attacker with all her might. She managed to stop him, but not to knock him over and he let out a large gust of air after Betty crashed into his stomach. Kate turned around at the noise and the blond heard her steps slowing. She turned her head to the redhead.

"Run!" she yelled at her with urgency and Kate nodded lightly, turned back, and ran.

"Damn you!" Seymour cried and began to scuffle with Betty who had no intention of letting him go anywhere.

He suddenly took something out of his pocket and when he lifted it to eye level, she realized that he was pointing a gun at her. But her thoughts had again moved so far away from herself that she didn't register the grave danger she was in and focused instead on getting the gun away from him and getting her friends out of danger. Instead of freezing, she fought harder. She lunged at the small revolver and in a moment they were both struggling for control over it, the man surprised at the turn of events and Betty putting up much more of a fight than either of them would have imagined. The gun in their hands was yanked this way and that, up and down, and they were growling and hissing through their teeth, neither willing to give up. The gun finally found itself in between them and they looked like they were clenched in a wrestling match standing up. Finally their eyes met and Betty saw a fanatical sickness while Seymour saw arrogant defiance.

Gladys and Kate hardly registered the small pop. Seymour's face suddenly turned into one of horror and Betty's into one of surprise as he fell onto his back and the gun fell in between them, a thin wisp of smoke snaking out of its barrel. The two of them continued to stare at each other for a few moments as if they didn't really understand what had just happened and why. Seymour only wanted to scare, he wanted to terrify into submission as atonement for his father's death. This wasn't how it was supposed to be. But now it was.

Betty simply stood and watched as he struggled to his feet, gripping his stomach, the terror and panic in his eyes constant and he turned to stagger outside the light of the street lamps and into the darkness that seemed to swallow him. Betty didn't move until Gladys called out and Kate came running up quickly.

"Let's go Betty!" Kate yelled as she grabbed Betty's arm and yanked her towards the car.

After a few steps, Betty shook her head and came out of her stupor and began to run towards the car herself. Gladys was already sitting in the driver's seat when they reached the car. Betty slowed down, nearly crammed Kate into the car first, got in herself and yelled "drive!" to Gladys at the moment she shut the door. They sped off in a screech of tires.

"Are you all right?" Gladys asked loudly, looking at the road and then in the rearview mirror at her friends in the backseat. All three were breathing heavily. They both nodded weakly, still a little unaware of what exactly was happening at that moment. Betty turned to Kate.

"Are you all right?" she asked.

Kate nodded.

"Are you sure? You're not hurt?" Betty continued, grabbing Kate's shoulders and looking at her intently.

Despite all the chaos and confusion, Kate felt safe at that moment. She felt safe and cared for and...well, loved. And despite the circumstances, she couldn't help but feel a warm feeling grow in her very center, one that caused ease in her and she knew what it was and was confused by it all the same and she wondered why it always appeared in these kind of extreme situations. And why Betty was always the cause.

"I'm fine." Kate said with a slight smile and in a tone that made Betty relax a little. The blond looked at her closely a moment longer, completely forgetting that it wasn't Kate who had been in imminent danger. Yet when she saw that Kate really was fine, her ferocity and rage instantly started to disappear and complete exhaustion began to take over as if someone had just began to drain her of everything. She put one hand up to Kate's cheek with a dreamy look on her face, her breathing slowly down. The warm feeling in Kate grew and she wrapped her arms around Betty, gluing herself to her.

"I am so lucky to have you." Kate whispered half into Betty's ear and half into her hair. But Betty said nothing and for a few moments there was silence except for the hum of the road and the light bouncing of the car. And Kate felt so content in that very moment that she almost wished it wouldn't have to end. She felt Betty slowly relaxing in her arms. And Kate suddenly noticed that there was something on her right hand. Without letting Betty go, she raised it in curiosity. The warmth she felt turned to ice and the smile she had completely disappeared. Her hand was red.

* * *

Author's Note: Just wanted to say that I'm loving your support everyone. This is my first fanfic ever so the support is awesome. Hope you hang on for the rest of the ride!


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